Karen Walker
Karen Walker (née Delaney, formerly; St. Croix, Popeil, and Finster) is Grace's rich assistant and wife of unseen character Stanley Walker. Biography Karen was born on January 12. Although she tries to keep her age secret, Jack reveals that she is 42 in 2001, meaning she was in fact born in 1959. She has a sister named Virginia. She inherited her squeaky voice from her father. Karen reveals to Grace that she lost her virginity to a professor, Mr. Tyler, who gave her an A+ and an exemption to write a term paper.Will Works Out Due to her family moving around a lot, she never got close to any one. However Virginia says that she remained easy-going, and popular among boys. Karen in turn was also jealous of Virginia being their father's favorite.Whatever Happened to Baby Gin? Childhood with Lois Karen's childhood was rocky due to her unstable relationship with her mother, Lois Whitley, a con artist who incorporated her daughter into her schemes, including one where Karen became a notary public. On her 8th birthday, her mother changed her name and moved them Vancouver.I Second That Emotion After becoming successful on her own, Karen sends her mother a check once a month to keep her from bothering her new lifeSomething Borrowed, Someone's Due and until the fourth season, she has been telling people that she had her mother committed to a mental facility against her will.Love Plus One She has also mentioned that the only person she has apologized to was her mother, as ordered by the court.Fear and Clothing The Ginny Incident In 1963, Karen purposely injured Virginia during a game of Twister on "a rickety old saw mill that juts out over the falls". Karen has been supporting her ever since the incident. Years later, Virginia admits that she also planned on injuring Karen that same day though unsuccessfully. They eventually realize they were both jealous of each other and decide to move past it. Career Karen is implied to have been an actress in her younger years. She played a bank teller in an episode of Mama's Family (where her scenes were cut out)East Side Story and being in a two-episode arc of Dynasty alongside Diahann Carroll.Speechless At some point before she got married, she appeared in the fetishistic film Next to Godliness as a dominatrix flick wearing a rubber dress.To Serve and Disinfect Between her first and second marriages, she backpacked through Japan, Vietnam, and Bhutan. While worshiping at the Golden Temple in Kyoto, she was discovered by a commercial director and became the face of energy drink Atooshi Kodki, appearing in billboards and ads across Japan.Saving Grace, Again (Part 2) Some time before the series began, Karen started working as assistant at Grace Adler Designs in New York. However, Grace states that she doesn't actually work there and rather calls it the "sleep-it-off" placeHome Court Disadvantage where she goes to get away from Stan and the kids.Girl Trouble Nevertheless, Grace keeps her around because Karen pays for her health insurance and bonuses,Fanilow and uses her social contacts to keep the business afloat.Love and Marriage Personality Karen is noted for her high-pitched voice which she got from her father, and her addiction to drugs and alcohol. Grace has described her as "a spoiled, shrill, gold-digging socialite who would sooner chew off her own foot than do an honest day's work".To Serve and Disinfect She is also portrayed as cruel and tactless in dealing with people, especially those not belonging to her social status. It has been implied that she has made waiters cry in several occasionsHusbands and Trophy Wives and that she has had people fired for senseless reasons. One recurring joke about Karen is how wicked she is to her staff at home, especially her personal maid Rosario, who even "gave her the breath of life three times".Dames At Sea Will mentions that some of her servants hand him "Help me" cards when he goes to the mansion.Swish Out of Water Except for some exceptions, she does not let her staff see her as shown in "Crouching Father, Hidden Husband" where whilst entering the room she announces "I'm approaching" or "I can see you", and the maids cower away quickly. In at least one occasion, Karen has displayed an advanced understanding of economicsStakin' Care of Business, and computersFagmalion Part Two: Attack of the Clones, although Grace mentions in earlier episodes that she doesn't even know how to use the fax machine.Will on Ice It is implied that she gains these skill through drugs.The Definition of Marriage Other Identities Throughout the series Karen often goes under the alias "Anastasia Beaverhausen"A.I.: Artificial Insemination usually while in poor areas she does not want to be associated with. She also stated using the alias Pilar Palabundo to "beat up businessmen for cash in Chinatown".Nice in White Satin Her real name may not, in fact, be Karen, as she changes her name from time to time to throw off the Feds. Her mother refers to her as "Kiki", although it was never mentioned where it came from.Someone Old, Someplace New Marriages and affairs She has been married four times — her first husband's surname was St. Croix, and her second was named Popeil, a reference to the American businessman Ron Popeil. Karen met and fell in love with Stanley Walker even before her first marriage. After she found out that he is already married, she did not pursue him until he got divorced. They finally wed in 1995Lows in the Mid-Eighties until his untimely death while their divorce is still being finalized.23 Karen was then married to Lyle Finster in May 2004, but divorced him after 20 minutes after realizing how much she has changed her personality for him.I Do. Oh, No, You Di-in't Karen later finds out that Stan faked his death to hide from the mob. After she confides to Will how betrayed she felt, she forgives Stan and they continue their marriage.Alive and Schticking Karen has two stepchildren, Olivia and Mason, whom she refers to as "the girl" and "the fat one", respectively from Stan's previous marriage to Cathy.Secrets and Lays In Thanksgiving of 2001, Stan who is jailed for tax evasion, allows Karen to have an affair while he is in prison. Karen however refuses, saying that the only man she wants is her husband.Moveable Feast As Stan unexpectedly comes home from prison, she almost sleeps with rich bachelor Lionel Banks....And the Horse He Rode in On She has intimated an illicit relationship with Ronald Reagan, claiming no one said anything to her at his funeral because she was his mistress.The Mourning Son She also implies to have been a lover of Jon Voight, Steven Tyler, and Goldie Hawn , none of whom wanted to leave their daughters for her.The Accidental Tsuris Will says Karen also became "Husband #8" to Elizabeth Taylor due to her carelessness.A-Story, Bee-Story She also had a relationship with a sultan named Habibi Shoshani Padush Al-Kabir, a man named Clayton, and Olympian Martina Navratilova (who was apparently straight before they met). Sexuality It has been a recurring humor throughout the series is that Karen has bisexual tendencies, mostly implied through semi-sexual encounters with Grace. She states that her idea of a girl's night includes getting tops off and "lady lovin'".Women and Children First She has mentioned attending Sarah Lawrence College, where most of her early lesbian experiences took place.Hocus FocusThree's a Crowd, Six Is a Freak Show Karen tends to be flirty to certain characters male or female and often mentions doing outrageous sexual acts off-screen, although she consistently chastises Grace whenever she has slept with someone. Her one-time roommate Liz mentions her having a "weird bisexual vibe".Dolls and Dolls She enjoys flirty banters with her maid Rosario, and implies to be attracted to her husband's mistress Lorraine Finster24. Karen and her mother Lois also recall her falling in love with someone whom they refer to interchangeably as "he/him" and "she/her". It is also hinted that Karen may be transgender or intersex, as she sometimes refers to herself as a "boy"Cop To It and mentions taking hormone pills to "prevent things from growing back".Bully Woolley Many female celebrities have also been implied to have sexual encounters with Karen, including Candice Bergen and Vanessa Williams. She also implies having an affair with lesbian realtor Deirdre. Karen also makes passes at Leo's ex-girlfriend DianeLast Ex to Brooklyn, Elliot's cheerleader crush MelanieI Never Cheered for my Father and Grace's neighbor Julie. In the final episode, Grace has a fantasy dream in which Karen and Rosario were married. Friends and Rivals Living in the high society, Karen has had connections to rich people, whom she has love-hate relationships with, some of whom actually appear on the show. Frequently, she describes them as rivals, including her "dearest white friend" Beverley Leslie; Stan's mistress Lorraine Finster; anti-gay politician Anita Bryant, who fell in love with her; her " arch-enemy-slash-best-friend" Candice Bergen; New York socialites Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue who live in Karen's apartment building; Scott Woolley who secretly loves her; Candace Pruitt; and interior designer Helena Barnes. Ex-Lovers * Artemus Johnson * Lionel Banks * Milo * Malcolm * Nick The Plumber Things Karen Implied In conversation and offhand remarks, Karen has either directly stated or implied some unusual and highly improbable things about herself in the past incorporated in popular culture and events in history, although these may have been caused by the drugs constantly takes. *She was involved in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst ("I Second That Emotion"). *She is almost 200 years old, either by surgery or by a deal with the devil ("Brothers, A Love Story"). * She was close to Sunny von Bülow, that when Jack asked her who is the one person that could make her life complete again, she answered Sunny ("Someone Old, Someplace New"). Although she also claims to be part of the reason Sunny was in coma ("The Young and The Tactless"). * She was part of the Texian defense at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 ("Bully Woolley"). *She was alive during the Great Depression ("Grace Expectations"). *Before the invention of Botox, they had to go down to Chinatown, where they'd inject her frown lines with mayonnaise that had been left out in the sun for a week ("The Needle and the Omelet's Done"). *She had an affair with Martina Navratilova in the 1980s ("Lows in the Mid-Eighties"). *She was Ronald Reagan's mistress ("The Mourning Son"). *Homophobic politician Anita Bryant fell in love with her. *She set up the governor of New Jersey with his boyfriend, or rather loaned them her apartment. *She claims to still collecting money from Linda Hussein (fictional wife to Saddam Hussein) after Karen won a bet concerning who had the worst husband ("Women and Children First"). *She's in a gang, listens to gangster rap and is a fan of Aerosmith. *She smoked weed with Debbie Harry ("24"). *She and Candice Bergen set up Martha Stewart and caused her to go to jail. She also implied that she had a sexual encounter with Candice ("Strangers With Candice"). *Pablo Picasso once offered to paint her but he wanted to put both breasts on one side of her body ("The Fabulous Baker Boy"). *She is the female model who posed with Vanessa Williams in the nude photographs by Penthouse in the Miss America 1984 scandal ("I Second That Emotion"). * She was cloned, but none of them survived ("Prison Blues"). * Various origins of how Rosario came to be her maid. Notes * In the pilot episode, Karen did not speak with her usual high and squeaky voice. Her voice did not change until subsequent episodes. * Originally conceived as a supporting character role, Karen became a more prominent part of the show based on positive viewer reaction. * Karen's bra size is 34C. One of her boobs is smaller than the other. She says it gets smaller when scared. * One of her big toes is webbed together with the one next to it, and implies her mother had the same affliction. She had it surgically corrected in 2005.Alive and Schticking * Karen has two pharmacists: pharmy, and "back-up pharmy". * Her drag name is Shu Shu FontanaBoo! Humbug and All Beef PattyFagel Attraction. * Karen calls every waiter who serves her in bars "Smitty". * She is often out of touch with reality and tells stories from her past that are actually plots of famous books or movies, including Heidi, Speed and Norma Rae. The Megan Mullally Show Walker's persona has appeared in advertisements for The Megan Mullally Show, which aired from September 2006 to January 2007. In one ad, Karen asks Megan to take her along. In another, Karen tries to pass for Megan at a meeting with studio executives until she is caught by Mullally and they begin to physically struggle with each other. Mullally once again donned a Walker persona in an episode of The Megan Mullally Show which featured Andy Dick. Mullally in a "Karen Walker voice", "I hurt his feelings, that was fun!" Media Karen_pilot.png Quotes References Category:Characters Category:Karen's family Category:Characters introduced in Season 1